Mr. Fitton's Website - History 12



Mission Impossible – Escape the Gulag Edition – Time Penalty Version

Background:

Throughout Russian history, Siberia has been used as a location to exile political dissidents. When Stalin came to power, he set up a chain of prisoner camps, which came to be known as the “Gulag Archipelago.” Russian’s could be exiled to these camps for showing up to work late, criticizing the government or even referring to Stalin as “The Man with the Mustache” (just ask famed author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn). To simulate the barren, frigid hellhole of Siberia, your goal will be to escape the Gulag of our classroom and seek freedom at the utopian Skaha Lake. (Then return – all within 60 minutes.)

Purpose: To simulate the fear and paranoia felt by most Russians, you will need to escape our classroom and make it to Skaha Lake while gathering important historical information. You will be quizzed on the info. Sound difficult? Sound hard? Sound impossible – it damned near is.

Goal: To develop historical empathy by feeling the paranoia and fear that Russians would have felt and to develop an understanding of the difficulty of their plight.

Time: 60 minutes

# of Russian Political Prisoners = 20-30

# of KGB/Cheka = 25-30

# of Checkpoint Sympathizers = 3-5

Supplies/Materials:

1. Tennis Balls / Cellphones or timers

2. Pinnies (Enough for the escapees)

3. Note-taking page.

Game play

Maps: Each student gets a map to show them where they can go. Boundaries are – Wilson Street and South Main. You must stay on the side of the street closest to the school. No crossing the main streets. We need to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic. The goal is to simulate Stalin’s Russia – not to get injured.

How to Play:

A. Each student wears a Pinnie to identify themselves as a student for the game. You cannot remove this item. It helps to represent that you are a Russian Political Prisoner. You would have been easily identifiable to Cheka/KGB agents on the hunt after your escape from the Gulag.

B. Begin at PMSS. You have to make it to three safe checkpoints where you will gather information (notes). You must gather all notes in order to win. You may go in teams or as individuals. Formulate a plan. Run with people slower than you.

C. To get caught, the KGB must hit the Prisoner with a tennis ball. The Prisoner will then have a one minute penalty where they must stay with the KGB agent. Remember, you have to get to the bench at Skaha lake and back with all your info within one hour.

D. Each checkpoint is a safe zone where you cannot be struck with a ball. This is where you gather your intel.

E. Remember: Stay within the boundaries and you have only 60 minutes to get there and back. We will return to the classroom 10 minutes prior to end of class to debrief.

MAP GUIDELINES

Write to the answers to the following questions contained on street lamps at the numbered checkpoints on the map to the left. Info will be posted on brightly coloured paper. Good luck comrades! You’re safe within 10 feet of checkpoints.

Checkpoint 1:

1. What is the significance of the Hammer and Sickle on the Soviet flag? (H 128)

2. What is Socialism in one Country? (D 56)

Checkpoint 2:

3. Describe Stalin’s Rise to Power (D. 57) (4 steps)

4. Why did men confess to crimes they did not commit in the show trials. (D. 62)

Checkpoint 3:

5. Why was the need so urgent to industrialize the USSR? (H. 129)

6. What was a Kolkhoz? (D. 60)

7. Who were the Kulaks and what was their fate? (D.60)

Finished – Return to classroom with notes and win!

WORKS WELL WITH TWO CLASSES JOINED WHO PLAY.

PUT GOOGLE MAP ON REAR OF HANDOUT SHOWING PARAMETERS.

E. The Slaves must get the as many pieces of tape to Safety Village as possible, and the Hunters must try to get as many pieces of tape as possible, with each piece of tape representing one slave. Whoever has the most pieces of tape at the end is the winner.

Alternate ways to play:

Along the way they have to answer certain class questions and if they get it wrong they have to go back to the last person and get the correct answer from them. They CAN keep making a guess BUT only one every 5 minutes.

Could use flag football flags to use as a way to capture the slave.

MAP GUIDELINES

Write to the answers to the following questions contained on street lamps at the numbered checkpoints on the map to the left. Info will be posted on brightly coloured paper. Good luck comrades! You’re safe within 10 feet of checkpoints.

Checkpoint 1:

1. Give three facts about the Purge of Stalin’s Army? (D 63)

2. Which Industry was the only one to meet its Target? (D 58)

Checkpoint 2:

3. How did life get worse for industrial workers? (H 132)

4 Why and how did Stalin Abandon the Marxist Principle of everyone working for the common good? (H 133)

Checkpoint 3:

5. What was the Role of the OGPU in pointing blame for any failures of the 5 year plans? (H 133-134)

6. How was the USSR modernized under the 5 year plans? (137-138)

Finished – Return to classroom with notes and win!

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